Bond qualifies for NCAA Championships semifinals on Saturday

EUGENE, Ore. — Senior All-American Devon Bond finished sixth in the triple jump on Saturday at the NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds at historic Hayward Field and he advanced to the national semifinals.

With the entire field battling blustery conditions, Bond was able to skip to a 52-1 ¼ (15.88m) measurement on his third and final attempt of the first round. That was good for sixth place and he moved on to the quarterfinals, where he passed on his proceeding three jumps without dropping in the standings.

The Trenton, N.J., native will join sophomores Keith Benford (high jump) and Richard Garrett Jr. (shot put) at the NCAA Championships, which are slated to begin on Wednesday, June 8, at Drake Stadium, and he will have an opportunity to improve upon his fifth-place national finish from a year ago.

"The main thing I wanted to do today was get on the board with my first jump," Bond said. "I did that, but it wasn't a very good one (49-10 ½/15.20m). After doing that, I wanted to improve on my next two tries because the conditions were getting bad really fast. I was able to do that and then just watch what the guys behind me were doing. I was able to pass on my next three jumps since no one moved ahead of me. I'm
looking forward to competing for the national championship and improving
upon my result from last year. The field is pretty even and I can't wait to get back to work next week."

"Today was the coldest it's been all meet, so the conditions Devon had to jump in were obviously tough," head coach Aaron Fox said. "He did a great job of putting the weather behind him and I thought he showed a lot of focus and maturity by competing well. He secured his spot at end of the first round and we decided to pass from there since the wind changed directions and the people behind him were having a rough go of it. There also wasn't any need to risk an injury with his place secure for nationals."

Two other Roadrunners were in action during the final day of the meet.

Sophomore Nate Brunette clocked a 21.56 in the quarterfinals of the 200 meters, which was good 20th place, but he did not advance, while Garrett Jr. finished 39th in the discus following his opening-round toss of 155-4 (47.35m).